Lightless
by RallyPointBravo
Summary: Dominus Ghaul has taken their home, their friends, and their light. Now, they take the fight back to him. Campaign retelling with some alterations.
1. Chapter 1 - Towerfall

**Authors Notes:**

 **Hey, this is my first TRUE story that I will be dedicating my time to, and my first true Destiny story at that. I will try to put out updates semi-frequently, but I'm a busy boy with school to do. Don't expect very much of me. Please R &R, I need some feedback :)**

 **Destiny and Destiny 2 do not belong to me.**

* * *

The Last City was quiet, as it usually was in the early hours of the morning. The cool, crisp breeze slowly wafted through the narrow streets and buildings that lined the great walls that protected them. The shops were just opening, the homes only recently being lit, and the people slowly making their way into the streets to go about their business.

Among the small crowds of people, a fireteam full of guardians strode through the city, dressed in light clothing with the Vanguard symbol plastered on the front. The citizens could recognize a few of them from the Crucible matches they would watch, while the others were known by name for their exploits against Hive gods. They were veteran guardians, each having carved their names out into the stones of history. Save one, the smallest Awoken female. While she had participated in the fall of Oryx, very few knew her name. She was still a legend in her own right, but nowhere near as revered as the others. It caused her envy to see the stunned glances of citizens when looking upon their leader, of the others, but nothing but the usual sideways glance that citizens gave the average guardian.

It was demeaning.

She felt a warm hand pat her shoulder, the one that belonged to the human Hunter of their group, Tom, although they called him Swift more often than not. He gave her shoulder a light squeeze, silently telling her that everything she felt was okay. He knew how she felt, he was once in the same position.

"Don't pay them any attention, they don't know anything."

The reassurance was nice, warmer than the broth they had trudged all the way out of the Tower to have this morning. It wasn't exactly her idea of a great meal, and it wasn't the favored drink of their Exo companion, Gale-12, but it was a hot meal regardless. Besides, when was the last time they'd eaten real food? Sure, the light could sustain them almost indefinitely, but it was nice to put something was some flavor in your mouth from time to time.

The whole group tensed for a moment, unsure of what in the hell just caused all of them to be on high alert. Each of their ghosts sparked into existence above their shoulders, adding a pastel colored arrangement of machinery to scan for disturbances. At Gale's nod, each of the ghosts trans-matted their respective guardian's armor onto them, which caused the citizens in the area to get the message. People scattered and headed back into their homes as the weapons began to form on their backs and hips.

Then the faint explosion could be heard. The group looked to the source of it. The South end of the top of the Tower had just been hit by a barrage of missiles. But from where?

Then the storm shifted in the sky, and began to spit out blood red ships of Cabal design. By the hundreds, by the thousands, they filled the storm to the brim.

"Get to the Tower, now!"

A silent acknowledgement, the sound of several boots hitting the pavement, and the group was on their way. Vanguard protocol was to divide any fireteams into Strike teams were the Tower to be attacked so that a greater area could be protected. Gale took the elder Warlock and Awoken Titan with him while Swift took the young Awoken and female Titan named Aspis with him. Swift took his team to the base of the Tower, reaching one of the trans-mat stations and sending them to the highest floor with an available connection.

* * *

When they arrived, Swift was greeted by the stench of smoke and destruction. He raised his Vision Of Confluence rifle and scanned the room, flanked by Aspis and Day as she insisted they call her. He had no room to judge about strange names, so he went with it.

Moving quickly through the remains of the ship storage stations, Swift's group managed to make it up a level before encountering Cabal Legionaries. A few precision shots from his rifle, and a hit from Aspis' Party Crasher +1, and the intruders were no more. The group had alerted several more Cabal in the area, and encountered a few more Legionaries before making their way to the crumbled path to Amanda's workshop. A well placed pulse grenade by Day caused the rubble to shift enough to allow them access to the stairs.

Once they found themselves in the ship bay, they found Amanda and several workers fighting for their lives against Phalanxes, Centurions, and Centurions. Amanda was using her Chaperone shotgun to send one or two flying back in a puff of black smoke, but there were more to take their places.

The guardians quickly put their skills to work, each pulling out a rocket launcher, one of them being a Gjallerhorn, and disposed of the clumped up enemy force below them. A few final shots from Day's Hawksaw put the rest down.

Amanda stood up with a bit of trouble as her bionic knee was sparking. "I owe ya one guardians, but I've gotta go. Zavala's got a need for me in the sky. Stay safe."

Swift just nodded to her, not one for conversations in warzones, and nodded to the others to get moving towards the courtyard. The path back to the courtyard was crumbling, almost caving in, causing the trio to speed through for fear of being crushed. Just as they reach the end of the path the stone structure above them crumbles into flaming dust. Swift nods forward and they continue on.

At the top of the central stairs stands Zavala and a few of his guardians who happened to be there at the time. Each of them situated behind cover deployed by their own ghosts, fighting off a crowd of Cabal. It was as if a flagship had dumped the entire crew onto the courtyard. The concrete slabs beneath the giant warriors cracked from the sheer weight of the beasts.

Shots rang out to the side of the invading Cabal force as the Strike team moved in, burning through their ammo reserves like tinder. Zavala's crew laid down some suppressing fire so the trio could make it over to the defensible position.

"Guardians! We must hold until the civilians are safely away! Do not let them have this courtyard!" Zavala echoed with his thunderous voice, dripping with anger. He dare not let loose his rage, but this was becoming too much for him.

"Sir, they're attacking the Traveler!" Aspis yelled and pointed towards the large, pronged machine being flown towards their god. Zavala shook his head.

"Civilians first, we must see them out safely!"

But safety was not something that could be guaranteed. Within moments of Zavala's order, several ships, including the largest, fired salvos of missiles at the guardian home. Zavala threw up his Ward of Dawn, but the missiles were not headed for them. They arched and swiveled downwards, right into the center of the Tower, causing it to lurch forward and groan in steel and stone. All who occupied the top of the Tower were knocked form their feet and sent towards the railing. Aspis and Zavala managed to stop themselves by grabbing onto the remains of Tess Everis' shop, but the rest of the unlucky guardians found themselves free-falling. Swift tried to reach out for Day as they fell, but all he could manage was to look at her helmet, right where her eyes would be, and nod.

* * *

"-om! We ne-" The crunch of my bones being shifted back into place.

"-aveler is in dan-" The feeling of blood flowing through my veins again.

"-ome on!" The clarity of a whole mind once again.

Swift stands up to find Dart, his Crimson shelled ghost hovering over him.

"We need to go Tom! The Cabal have taken over half of the City!"

That woke him from his daze completely. He held out his open palm for Dart to materialize a good gun in his hands. She supplied him with a Cure rocket launcher, cluster payload.

"I can access what remains of the Tower armory and trans-mat rockets into your launcher. Just point and shoot."

Swift nodded and jumped up to the nearest rooftop to get a good view of what was going on. Small bursts of gunfire peppered the streets, no doubt belonging to guardians. And then there were loud, large bursts of solar slugs being pounded back at the guns, decimating anything in their way. Tanks. Hundreds of them.

Leaping up into the air, Swift fired once, twice, three times at the heavily armored vehicle and shattered it like glass. Several Cabal infantry units stared upwards at him and began to fire but it was far too late, their corpses were nothing but ashes.

He fired on a cluster of three tanks in an open section of the City and destroyed each from a considerable distance. Just as he was to finish a fifth tank his rocket ran empty.

"Tower armory is gone, nothing more to draw on but your synths. Probably going to need those later."

Swift aimed his Her Benevolence sniper at the side pod of the tank and finished it off. "What ammo do you have?"

Dart seemed to smirk with her tone. "Only about five thousand rounds for all of your exotics since they all have seperate ammo types."

With that, he held slung his sniper over his back and held out his hand once more, being given his Suros Regime rifle.

* * *

Day wasn't having an easy time. She had landed quite far from the Tower and was revived fairly quickly, and managed to regroup with some guardians lead by Lord Shaxx on the ground. Shaxx was laughing like a madman as he cut through ranks of Cabal with his Raze Lighter, purely in his element. But even the largest, strongest Titan could not hold off the incoming assault indefinitely. Threshers began flying overhead, and while guardian ships were able to take some out, more guardians were being brought down than Cabal. It was the greatest slaughter Day had ever witnessed.

Reloading her Hawksaw, she found herself being backed into the Great Wall. It seemed the Cabal were leading them into a corner. Filled with frustration and anger, she felt her palm crackle with energy as she sent waves of lightning through the incoming forces, frying several Legionaries and melting a Centurion where he stood. More forces still flooded through the streets before them, some with odd lights dancing from their guns.

Shaxx growled and let out a war cry at the sight of them. Day almost didn't understand until she realized the lights were fallen ghosts, seized not very long ago. She felt her lightning forming again and sent it into the back of the sprinting Lord Shaxx.

* * *

Swift ducked into an alleyway and tossed his Suros to the ground, empty. Half of his cloak was burnt off, which was particularly irritating to him. Not only did he just have his favorite set of armor destroyed, but now his favorite cloak was gonna need some serious work. As Dart finished trans-matting his backup breastplate onto his body, he held out his hands and received a Last Word and Thorn. Spinning out of cover, he popped a Legionary in the head with the Tex Machina revolver and stabbed a Phalanx in the hand with the cursed cannon in his other hand. Using the two instruments of death, aided by his ghost's automatic reloads, he was able to tear himself a path through the Cabal and closer to another raging gunfight.

Turning the street corner, Swift lowered his weapons in awe. Before him was Lord Shaxx, brutally destroying Cabal left and right with his Fists of Havoc, but each punch seemed to send a shock-wave through the forces, and the lightning was only fueled further by Day's screeching electric charge burning through him. Other guardians stood behind the pair, firing everything they had. One Titan even held two Super Good Advice machine guns and sprayed down the lane full of Cabal.

Once Shaxx had finished his brutal massacre, Swift ran over to Day and looked around.

"Where's the rest of Spectre team?" He questioned.

"No clue, last I heard, Gale was taking Mia and Dresden up to the flagshi-"

Before she could finish, a huge explosion rocked the ground not too far from them as guardians were sent flying, their ghosts mangled by the sheer impact of the explosive. Shaxx called out for guardians further back, and they arose in a line twenty guardians strong, each carrying a Gjallerhorn.

"FIRE!" He bellowed as the wolfpack rounds burst from their tubes, latching onto the unlucky craft above them and ripping it from the sky. The massive ship crashed down into the City, causing a squadron of Cabal to be destroyed under it.

This caught the attention of several other large ships and nearly a hundred Thresher dropships. Golden Guns flared to life and shot out rocket pods, engines, cockpits. Tethers were fired into the masses of ships, aided by another volley of wolfpack rounds to finish them off. Hammers of Sol were flung into Threshers and violently brought them down, and Nova Bombs were flung straight into the lead cruiser, damaging it heavily.

It seemed as though there might be a chance of survival yet, as if there could be a victory.

But the pronged machine had other plans. As it finished latching onto the Traveler, the god, it severed their connections. Guardians stood for a moment and looked at their suddenly appearing ghosts, then crumpled to their knees as their light was lost. Blue, purple, and orange auras left their bodies, their ghosts flickered and cracked on the ground.

Swift felt as though a thousand bricks had been dropped upon him as he struggled to find a way to stand once more. He could see Day and even the mighty Shaxx were suffering from the same feeling of powerlessness. Of hopelessness.

He got up on one knee and raised his Red Death. This would not be his last day. He saw several other guardians rise back up from the ashes of their own light, determined to fight until their last breath. He quickly scooped up Dart and hooked her to his belt, determined not to let his ghost die so simply.

There was no time for rest, however, as the remaining Threshers rounded on them. Several crouched guardians were cut down for the last time, spraying blood across the street. Swift ran forward, grabbing Day in his arms and half dragging, half walking her to a small alley. She squeezed his shoulder tightly, as if she was unsure if this was real, and he squeezed hers in reply. That was all she needed to make her realize just how real this all was.

Nodding grimly to her, Swift lead her away from their fallen comrades and closer to the Wall. A solemn voice soon came over their helmet communications. None other than Zavala spoke.

"Guardians, the City is lost... We must rally on Titan and collect ourselves before we can build a counter-attack... I pray you all make it safely."

The two looked at each other and then at their ghosts, both hanging lifelessly from their belts. Swift had a beacon on him in the event that he would ever find a suitable patrol route, and made a plan. They could at the very least flag down a guardian ship with the beacon. Day was already heading for the City wall. Neither of them wished to be here any longer than they had to.

Just as they reached the edge of the City, they heard a voice boom across the whole city.

"I am Dominus Ghaul. I have taken your light, and now, I will take your lives."

Swift raised his sniper rifle and scoped in on the source of the sound, the capital ship of the fleet, and quickly wished he hadn't. Kneeled upon the edge of the ship were Gale, Dresden, and Mia. A few flashes of slug rifles, and three corpses fell from the ship.

Three legendary guardians, held at the mercy of the Cabal. They were not merciful.

With tears in her eyes, Day made her way through a hole punctured in the wall by Cabal mortar fire, not wanting to look back at their beloved City, now turned to ash. Swift took a moment as he stood in the breach to look back at the smoldering ruins, quickly being turned into a Cabal fortress, and turned away.


	2. Chapter 2 - Dormant

The winds were much harsher out in the wilds than they were in the City. The Hunter's tattered cloak and the Warlock's scorched robes blew in the wind as they trudged up the barren hillsides. The dirt and stone that they walked along merged with a thin blanket of snow, providing the landscape with some interesting visuals. However, the Guardians were far too tense to be sightseeing. Weapons raised, eyes to the sky, and feet firmly planted with every step.

Swift ran a hand over the beacon on his belt, as he had been doing once every few minutes for the past hour, to ensure that it hadn't left him. Without Dart, he had only himself to keep track of what he had. At the thought of Dart he also put his hand over her shell, sighing softly to himself as he felt the ridges of his first companion. It felt like a lifetime ago when he had last heard her voice. He looked over to see Day idly holding her Ghost's shell, Spark as she'd named him, as well. There was a mutual feeling of sadness between Guardians when a Ghost died. This had been the greatest mass execution of Ghosts since the Six Fronts, possibly even more than then. He squeezed her shell in his hand, thinking of all they'd lost within the last few hours, how many more they would lose in the coming days. There had to be hope, there had to be some way to get the light back to the Ghosts.

Day tapped Swift on the shoulder and brought him back to reality. She nodded towards the open field before them and he nodded in agreement. This was a good enough place to flag down a ship. Moving into the field, Day raised his pulse rifle to keep watch as Swift set the beacon down and began typing in a message for other Guardians to pick up. Planting it into the ground, Swift backed up as a white circle was created around it as the beacon came to life. With a loud crack, the beacon ceased to function and the white circle faded.

"The hell? Are you kidding me?" Swift growled as he bent down and opened up the maintenance panel on the side of the beacon. The internals had been melted together and had only barely worked enough to be turned on. Swift yelled and kicked the worthless can across the field.

Day's shoulders sagged and she lowered her rifle. For a moment, she seemed like she was going to errupt in tears. Her Warlock training allowed her to reign in her feelings, but they both knew just how much agony the other was in. Their only plan was not going to work. They didn't have any supplies to last themselves any length of time out in the wild, and the rest of the Guardians were off on the moon of Titan with much more pressing matters to attend to.

They were out of options. The only thing they could do was to try to radio fellow Guardians within the area. The only problem was that their com units were only capable of reaching a few hundred meters, and in the vast expanse that is the Europe Dead Zone, it would be extremely unlikely to find anyone aside from Fallen scavengers.

Day put her rifle down on the ground, found herself a good enough spot, and sat down to meditate. Swift looked at her with concern, as he thought she might just be on the verge of total breakdown, but she was far from it. She was devising a plan. She just needed to clear her mind and focus on what she knew.

"Widow's Court." She whispered. She knew what they had to do.

"What?" Swift asked, intrigued.

"There's a trans-mat station in Widow's Court, the one used for the Crucible matches. If we can get there, we can access the trans-mat network and find our way to other Guardians, and then hopefully to Titan."

Swift nodded in thought. Yes, this was a good plan.

"I know the way there... But it's a journey. At least three days."

Day faltered slightly at the thought, but stood resolute.

"Then we will go."

* * *

The wild, it seemed, was not her home. As she sat by the small fire that Swift had managed to make with his survival skills, she could not find the strength within herself to look at the blaze. It reminded her too much of all that she had seen in the Last City. Of all who had perished. Of their friends, Gale-12, Dresden, and Mia. Although they had not seen it, it was more than likely that Aspis was dead too. And that was just their fireteam.

The soft footsteps behind Day alarmed her for a moment before Swift made his appearance, carrying two freshly caught rabbits, each with a precise gash between their eyes from a throwing knife. While she was not particularly fond of such wild game, Day could not deny the hunger she felt. It had been so long since she had felt the growl of her stomach that she had almost forgotten the feeling entirely.

"I know they're a little too cute looking to eat, but trust me, you'll be drooling over it." Swift grinned as he began skinning and gutting the fuzzy little creatures.

Day was skeptical, but she was willing to try. Besides, there wasn't much else to be eaten in the area. Sighing to herself, she scooted closer to the fire and helped Swift put them on a spit, allowing them to have a somewhat nice and hot meal.

The two sat in silence, neither having anything to say that the other didn't know and feel within their very soul. It was a slow, stewing sadness that had been planted within them, and they sat upon it, not wanting to speak any more of what they had seen. Where they even Guardians anymore?

Day looked up to see Swift cradling Dart's shell in his hands, looking into the lens at her core. Day felt somewhat embarrassed that she hadn't felt as strongly for her own ghost, but she had always spent time around other Guardians, other people. Swift spent so much time alone in the wilderness that Dart had become another half of his whole, and made him feel lost without her. She idly brushed her hand over her own Ghost's shell, not wanting him to feel alone in his cold, lifeless shell. Something told them that their Ghosts were still in there, just waiting to be charged up with the Light once more.

"Don't let my hard work get cold now, Day." Swift teased, although it had a hint of underlying sadness. She decided that she'd rather not add to his growing despair and graciously took a piece of the meat and brought it to her mouth.

* * *

The night was cold, as the fire could not be kept for fear of being spotted. Having very little means of shelter in the wilds of the mountains, Swift managed to assemble a sort of canopy with Day's help. A Warlock's abilities would have been of great help in making the process easier, but such ability was no longer theirs to have.

Wrapped in each other's arms under the canopy, warming themselves with the combined heat, the two found a comfort in the tangled arms and pressed together bodies, as if the warmth of the Light had returned for just a moment right between them, and if they moved it would vanish just as it had not long ago.

There was no room for being shy, for feelings of embarrassment. They had long since been cast to the side as the need for contact, for a reasuring set of arms, to keep their tears from spilling. Day had never seen Swift so emotional, and Swift had not seen tears glistening from a Warlock's eyes before. Strange and trying times were these, and they had not yet even begun their longest journey.


	3. Chapter 3 - Traverse

**Author's Notes: Hey all, sorry for the massive delay. Life and stuff are dragging me down. Hope you enjoy this smaller chapter, more to come soon.**

* * *

The feeling of his body jerking upright caused her to stir. In the soft morning light Day could only barely make out the shape of Swift snapping to attention as he got to his feet and grabbed his rifle. Startled, Day rose from the nest they had constructed and found her handcannon. She stood slowly, shakily, and left their shelter.

Swift seemed somewhat confused by her frightened awakening before realizing his mistake. Day lowered her hand cannon as the slightly embarrassed look crossed his face.

"Uh... Sorry about that. I don't usually wake up next to someone. Just uh... Get up and go... You know us Hunters."

Day frowned and holstered her pistol, no longer worried but a whole lot more irritated. You learn many things in your sleep, and Warlocks were quite fond of learning, ergo fond of sleep.

"If you do that again, you're making your own shelter." She mused, not one to vent such minor frustrations.

Swift merely nodded and stretched out his aching muscles. Day began her meditative yoga, as she always did upon waking. It was an odd sight, two great warriors of the elements stretching and creaking like wooden doors in the wilderness, but they were far too tired to care. It had been a long time since either of them felt fatigue, which only made this trip more of a pain.

* * *

The Warlock found herself alone once again as her companion had run off during one of her meditations that involved closing the eyes, leaving her feeling somewhat more exposed. Solace, however, was where every Warlock found themselves at home, which provided them with their best studies. Gathering up their few possessions, Day had settled into a bit of a routine with her work. At least, she had settled into one until the brown mass of feathers known as a hawk landed upon the roof of their shelter.

Not at all startled by the bird of prey, Day extended her arm towards the hawk, having already noticed the tracking anklet it wore on one of his legs. Slowly, the hawk became less fearful of the Warlock and perched himself upon her arm, allowing her to get a good look at him.

On the ankle bracelet the hawk wore was inscribed the name Louis, and upon closer inspection the bracelet contained some kind of signal amplifier. Not wanting to scare the ha- ,no Louis off, Day slowly sidestepped her way back into the shelter to retrieve her helmet. After putting it on and turning on her comm system, she found the amplifier was relaying a recorded message. It was an aged female, with some audible anger. She seemed to be ranting on about somewhere to be going, but it was hard to tell with the distortion. Cabal signal jammers had been placed not long after their conquering of the Last City.

"-vous at these coordinates... 074. We can't wai-... Get to the Farm."

The ominous message could only repeat the same segments after that. Day pondered the message for a moment. This 'farm' could be anywhere from a minute to a few kilometers away, and they didn't have the slightest clue as to which direction it was in.

Maybe Swift knows.

He did have his way with the wild. Those countless hours spent tracking and patrolling ought to have earned him some kind of mental map of the area.

Gently, she removed Louis from her gauntlet and allowed him to fly off, back to whatever he was doing. It was more than likely he was sent out to find Guardians, but it wasn't worth following him. Who knows where he'd end up. Day quickly sent a marker on her position to Swift via her helmet HUD.

Within a few minutes, Swift returned, a pair of squirrels on his belt dangling lifelessly next to Dart. He seemed proud of the kills, likely took him a fair bit of effort considering they hadn't a single bullet wound.

"You ready to head out, Day?" He said, almost as if he wasn't carrying dead animals on him.

"Not yet. I found this.. Hawk. I believe his name was Louis. He had a message attached to him, something about a farm. Do you have any idea of what that might be?"

Swift stood pensive for a moment. Indeed, he had seen many farmhouses in his travels, but none seemed to stand out in his mind. Wait, there was one. An occupied village with a farmhouse in the center.

Swift nodded. He was sure that was the one. Not a doubt in his mind.

"It's not very close though. Widow's Court is much closer. We can only hope that this 'Farm' is in the transmat system."

* * *

The travel had been rough for the both of them. Their armor was no longer capable of providing internal temperature adjustments, as it had been far too long since the last maintenance, causing both of them to be drenched in sweat. While they were both physically fit, it was nothing less than draining. Upon making their way into the outskirts of the EDZ, both guardians were barely able to haul themselves to a crumbling building before collapsing from exhaustion.

Swift slowly pulled the water flask from his belt, took a swig, and tossed it to Day, who graciously gulped it down. While they no longer had light, they were still the pinnacle of their species' ability, combined with their undying will, they had the strength to make a two day journey in little more than one.

"Almost there. Only a couple of kilometers to go. But stay alert, Fallen have probably taken this area back since we haven't had presence here in a while."

Day could only nod. It was relieving to hear, even if there was the chance of deadly engagements. She pulled her handcannon from her holster. 'Up The Ante' it read. She liked the sound of that.

Swift nodded and readied his rifle.


	4. Chapter 4 - Forward

Ether.

The Dreg scurried his way up and down the mounds of rubble near the collapsed human structure. House Devils was here. Ether was here.

The Dreg took a moment to sit on his haunches and survey the area. Large, pointy human buildings were falling apart all around him, with some long dead spider walkers between them every so often.

Human buildings are strange. So big. So useless.

The hum of a passing Shank roused him from his thoughts.

Must find Servitor. Dreg hungry.

Creeping on all fours, the Dreg scuttled towards the last known location of his servitor. He closed his eyes, relying on his sense of smell rather than his eyes, knowing them to it to be far superior.

Of course, if it were so superior, the Dreg would've noticed it ran directly into the path of a Warlock's boot.

* * *

Day squeezed her trigger, releasing a puff of gas from the former Fallen's head. They weren't exactly the smartest of races, and they most definitely weren't the hardest to kill.

She nodded towards the shadows, indicating to Swift that they were clear once again. The suppressor that Swift had given her was quite effective, although he warned that it likely wouldn't last more than five shots before the high caliber hand cannon tore it to pieces. It was a helpful, albeit short lived, piece of equipment.

"Vandals. Two. Courtyard. I've got them." whispered Swift, high up in his dark perch in their stone building. With a slightly audible crack, the two fell to the ground, taken down by sniper fire. He was a damn good shot.

They were only a few hundred yards from the Widow's Court, but from the looks of it there was a small colony of Fallen set up there, likely the survey party sent before a larger force moved into an area. There was at least one servitor, which meant at least one captain. Dregs were crawling throughout the place, although all of the enemies in their immediate area were taken care of.

"How are we going to draw them out of the church?" Day asked. They had very little ammo and even less equipment, which proved to make most of their common tactics impossible.

"Simple. Just need a little fire."

A spark lit up the dark around Swift as he ignited some wood inside of the structure of the building. The place was going to collapse, and it was going to burn quite nicely. Day managed to sneak her way out of the first floor while Swift hopped out of his window and fell upon the Earth with an audible thud. They quickly repositioned to a building not far away and began skirting towards the church.

Within minutes their previous residence had fallen to the ground in a loud, crumbling and burning heap. Dregs and Vandals quickly skittered over to the wreckage to inspect it, looking for the source of the fire. The Captain followed not far behind, inner hands grasping blades and outer arms hefting a Line Rifle.

Using the momentary distraction, the pair of Guardians silently entered the Church through the front entrance, which was largely concealed by the stone fence around it. Upon entering, both readied their weapons anew, Day with her pistol and Swift with his knife. The two had just walked in on nearly half a dozen sleeping Vandals, with the Servitor sitting idly, in what appeared to be some kind of sleep mode.

Swift quickly moved towards the transmat station in the back corner, which the pesky Fallen had been tampering with, and began to put in verification codes. Day kept lookout, making sure none of the Vandals got any ideas. A green light flaired within Day's helmet, indicating Swift had gotten it working. Their helmets had enough sound suppresion that they could whisper to each other via comms.

"Looks like almost every transmat station from here to the Dreadnaught are offline. No activity. There's one active of Titan, but it hasn't been used in two days."

Day cursed to herself. What now?

"What about the Farm?"

"It works, but we need a passcode. Think we can ask them?"

"Do it. Send a query to their transmat station. Someone should answer."

A few keypad strokes and Swift had finished his request. The two stood in silence. If the query didn't get approved, they were dead. The Captain was likely already heading back.

A few lines showed up on the screen of the transmat station, indicating an approval. They sighed in relief and nodded to each other. The pair slowly phased into their destination, leaving a gust of blue wind in their place.

The Captain swore she felt a cold wind against her cloak as she entered the church, but it was likely just her nerves.

* * *

The transmat system spit the two of them out on a lush, grassy hill in what appeared to be a valley, surrounded by wilderness. The two barely had time to take it in before armed men walked up to them and demanded them to drop their weapons. These people didn't have the look of City dwellers, so they were likely in the camp that didn't appreciate Guardians as much. The two complied and dropped their guns and Swift relinquished his knife.

After they had been disarmed, a woman donning a red poncho and facial tattoos walked over to the pair, adjusting the strap of her rifle. Her stride demanded respect from those around her, and the stern expression only drove it home. Wordlessly, she nodded to the men to bring the pair into the small village they had set up. As they walked, she began to speak.

"Been gettin' a lot of Guardians recently. Can't say we want em' but the more the hands to hold guns, the better our odds."

Her voice was ragged and angered.

"Can't say we trust you though. Gonna have to put yo-"

She was interupted by the hulking mass of orange and white that stepped in front of her amidst her speech. Swift and Day looked up and sighed greatfully. The one-horned, fur lined, brick wall of a man known as Lord Shaxx stood before the poncho wearing woman. However, the two seemed to be at a standstill, as neither were particularly intimidated by the other.

"You got a reason ta be standin' here creamsicle?" She asked, almost annoyed.

"Yes, I do. I know those Guardians. They're good. Don't touch their belongings."

His voice bellowed with such a deep tone she could almost feel it in her bones.

"I don't much care for what you th-"

Shaxx cut her off yet again.

"You don't have to care, Hawthorne. I'm telling you to let them go."

Hawthorne stood firm, but her subordinates did not. They handed Swift and Day their belongings and moved back to their posts. Hawthorne glared at Shaxx for a few moments before walking past him and heading back to her nest.

Shaxx walked over and put a hand on their shoulders.

"Ah, I was worried I'd never see a familiar face again! Where have you been!" He thundered, as if he had never seen another soul for the past thousand years.

"We were trying to defend the city, ended up escaping to the mountains. Found our way here through Widow's Court." was all that Swift had in reply. It seemed to work well enough for Shaxx, not being one for long talks.

"It was the greatest defeat I've seen in all my years, but I'm glad you came out of it. I am... So sorry for your loss." He had seen their execution too.

Day spoke up, seemingly less rigid than she had been for the last few days.

"How did you end up here Lord Shaxx?"

Shaxx simply waved a hand.

"It's simple really. I had been tasked with rallying the survivors of the attack and escorting them to safety. Of course, all of the ships had been destroyed, leaving us the transmats. Fewer and fewer were available until finally, this was the only one. We barely made it through in time. Still haven't been able to rouse my ghost."

The pair nodded grimly. No doubt, Shaxx had lost some good Guardians, possibly even civilians in the process. Looking around the Farm, there weren't many who wore the look of City dwellers. And he had lost his ghost too.

"I don't think anyone who was fighting as extensively as we were would have enough light in their ghost to keep it functional." Was all Day could manage.

Shaxx perked up as he remembered a neglected thought.

"Oh, we do still have one ghost among us. Come, I'll show you the surprise."

The Guardians filed in behind Shaxx as he strode across the open space and into a hangar, where it looked like he had set up shop. Striding past his makeshift crucible stand, the pair came across what seemed to be a sort of field hospital, and floating above a gurney was none other than a Ghost. But this one was familiar, and the two knew it.

It was Aspis' ghost.


	5. Chapter 5 - Fond

The faint, familiar whir of the light infused machine was keeping the pair of Guardians in shocked silence. It had felt like an eon since either of them had seen an operational Ghost, let alone one of the few they had interacted with.

Her name was Torch, which suited her sparkly crimson shell quite nicely. While Torch never cared for conversation, she was always ready to unleash a quip on Aspis if the opportunity arose. Most Ghosts were fond of teasing their Guardians during combat.

Torch floated with a lot less strength than they had ever seen in a Ghost. Her shell was crumpled inwards, as if she were doubled over, and her light was dim and erratic. It was a pitiful sight.

"Well, are you going to stare at me for the rest of the day or are you gonna say hi?" the machine quipped lazily, as if she hadn't the power to even speak.

"Torch... What happened? Where's Aspis?" Day managed to squeeze out through her gaping mouth, long before Swift could reign in his own surprise.

"Aspis is in a... Private recovery area. The local leader thought it best if her people didn't see one of their saviors... Well, beaten and bloodied as hell."

Swift nodded in agreement. It was a smart move, no doubt, but what did it matter when countless Guardians had been lost, let alone the whole City? They would know by now.

"Can we see her?" He managed.

"Of course! But do be tender. She may be a Titan, but not all of us are made of metal." Shaxx shouted, as if they were his last words. The man could never learn of an 'inside voice'.

Torch lazily hovered further into the hangar, and down into a cellar that had been obstructed from view by the Crucible stand that had been arranged. Day and Swift quietly made their way down, not wanting to interupt the much needed rest that Aspis would be having at this time.

Past the steps of the cellar was a small bunker, no bigger than the office from which the Postmaster operated. Within was a lamp, a bed, and a collection of armor strewn across the floor. The bed suddenly came alive as the sheets moved and revealed the tall, brawny woman that laid within it. Aspis sat up in her bed with some strained effort and smirked at the two of them.

"By the Traveler... I thought I'd never see our fireteam again." She croaked, likely having not spoken for quite some time.

Day moved to her side and sat on the edge of the bed, quickly leaning in for a hug. Swift simply stood next to the pair, crossing his arms and smirking. Aspis took a moment before returning the hug. It was a long hug that conveyed both of their pains to the other, and offered a comfort they both sought.

After a few moments the initial excitement of seeing each other wore off and a slight awkwardness grew until the two parted. Swift simply stayed silent, but gave Aspis an affectionate shoulder squeeze as a substitute for a hug. She smirked up at him and nodded.

"C'mon Tom, you know you don't have to be a loner all the time. 'Specially now."

This drew a huff of irritation from Swift at the mention of his name. He knew he should've just given her the damn hug.

"Yeah yeah, all that Titan stuff with the 'being a wall together' isn't really my forte."

Day had taken her moment away from Aspis to reignite her interest in Torch. She turned back to Aspis with questioning eyes.

"How is Torch still working? Our Ghosts haven't activated since the attack."

Aspis sighed, and made the slightest shrugging motion.

"Beats me. Shaxx's running theory is that I didn't require a revive, unlike some people," she gave Swift a pointed glare and continued. "Torch must've had enough light in reserve to function without the Traveller's supply."

It seemed as good of a guess as any. It hardly mattered now, since they had no means of reactivating their Ghosts. They could only hope that somehow, the light would once again reach their companions.

"We should let her rest. Don't need her getting any more banged up than she already is." Swift said, giving Aspis the same smirk that she gave him.

"Yeah, you two look tired as hell. Maybe see Hawthorne, see if she can hook you up with somewhere to stay."

The two looked at each other and sighed together. Hawthorne wasn't exactly on their list of friends right now, and the request likely wouldn't sit well with her.

"Just make sure you don't talk to her about anythin' war related. She really hates us, ya know."

"Oh, we know Aspis. We know." Day said, practicly groaning

* * *

With that, the pair of exhausted Guardians left the cellar, passing Shaxx. The dark had began to creep up on the light as evening winds graced the air. As the two ascended the steps to where Hawthorne was perched, the sound of a round being chambered brought them out of their dull haze. Swift put his hand on the handle of his knife, and Day a hand on her hip, near her pistol.

Hawthorne stared them down as they reached the top of the stairs, spilling out onto the landing. The look on her face confirmed what Aspis had warned. She was not fond of Guardians, which was fair. People outside of the City had a hard time getting in, and those who didn't meet the requirements were left on their own. The markings on her face indictated she belonged to one such clan, a clan that, to the best of Day's memory, had been wiped out by the Fallen.

"I don't have the patience to deal with you right now. Get out."

She certainly wasn't a charmer either. Swift took a step closer.

"Ma'am, we just need a place to stay for tonight. We've been on the run for... Almost a week now. We could really use a good rest for once."

She snickered at the word rest. How long had these corpses slept before they stood again?

"You're not gonna find much hospitality from me, Guardian. I only like Shaxx because he saved my ass, and he pits your kind against each other for fun. So kindly scram."

Swift was a great deal more hard headed than the woman would think, and continued to prove the point.

"Look, is there some kind of deal we can strike? You put up with us for one night and we do something for you? Kill some things? We're good at that. Just name a price."

Now that an offer was put on the table, Hawthorne was suddenly feeling more helpful. She looked over the two, particularly the weaker looking female, and their gear. She didn't have much use for their rifles, much too complex to maintain with her tools. They would likely break soon anyways from the constant wear. She did have something on her plate though...

"Tell you what, if you can clear out a Fallen nest tomorrow, I'll let you sleep in a bed tonight. We got a deal?"

Swift looked at Day, earning a deflated shrug from her. That was as close to a yes as she was going to provide. Swift nodded to Hawthorne. Hawthorne smirked and tilted her head to the side, towards the smaller barn down the path that likely served as their quarters.

"Not the worst trade you've ever made, but definitely not the best." Day said, not very happy with the arrangements. It would have to do.

Upon entering the barn, they found that it was not repurposed into a living quarters, but rather an actual barn, complete with chickens clucking away in the lower levels. Obviously they had not read up on proper farming, as this would be the ideal space for larger livestock, but these people were about as well read as they were well bathed. Day sighed and climbed the ladder up into the second level loft, which was covered in hay. Swift followed, not exactly wanting to be left with the chickens as his bunkmates.

As he reached the top, his Warlock companion had already stripped herself of weapons and began the slow process of removing her armor. Guardians typically had the near instant assistance from their Ghosts to remove the intricately designed armor, but with no such help, Day had to manage with her hands. Swift gave her some privacy by heading to the opposite side of the loft to remove his weapons, unstrapping his belt, toss his helmet, and remove his chestpiece. He hadn't the care to remove his leg armor, knowing it would just need to be put back on soon. The undershirt he wore was almost completely ruined by the sweat he had accumulated over the days of travel, and with a sneaky peek over to Day he noticed she was in a similar position, which caused her to remove her undershirt and reveal her undergarments. Swift looked away.

It wasn't much of a choice for him either. After removing his gauntlets, he too shed his undershirt and let the air flow freely over his upper body. It had been too long since he had some amount of freedom from his armor. The air was far too cold for it to be relaxing, but it was nice to have feeling there once again.

"Swift, don't take this the wrong way... But would you mind sleeping with me?"

Swift turned to look Day in the eyes, failing once or twice by looking down at her scantily clad torso. Day's form was beautiful, strong and full, and she knew it. It was hard for anyone to look away from. Swift nodded to her. It wasn't for pleasure or any of that, it was simply cold, they were alone, and to be quite honest, these last few days of sleeping with her had given him a sense of comfort that he hadn't had for quite a long time. She gave him a feeling of innocence again, which was quite absurd for killers like themselves to even think, but her nature was that of a kindhearted soul, one that he hadn't the pleasure of spending much time with before.

She gave him the smallest of smiles and turned around, having already laid out a nest for two in the hay collections around the loft. Hay itself wasn't a great thing to sleep on, so Day had arranged her robes to be somewhat of a sheet over the hay to keep them from feeling to disturbed by it. Swift appreciated her wit, and her robes, as he made his way down onto the makeshift mattress. Day soon fell down upon the pile, looking as if she would pass out at any given time. Swift gingerly wrapped an arm around her smaller frame as she closed her eyes, snuggling up against him. The skin on skin contact was a bit strange for the two of them, and while neither admitted it, it was incredibly welcome.

Guardians weren't exactly emotional creatures, what with the constant killing, dying, and dying for fun. But in the quiet and soft moments where danger was at a minimum, in moments like these, Day thought to herself that maybe they could be.


	6. Chapter 6 - Undoing

**Author's Notes: Hey! Hey you! Thanks so much for supporting this series! Your support is what fuels my desire to work on this series, so thank you so much! As always, leave a review or a like and feel free to PM me if you have any suggestions!**

The morning brought something that neither of them were expecting. Pain. For the first time in ages, the two felt their bodies were as battle-scarred as they truly were. It was an odd experience, to find yourself in a body no longer working as smoothly as you remembered. Perhaps it was an effect of the light leaving them for a prolonged period of time.

Day's soft groan of pain awoke Swift, who was suddenly a lot more sluggish than previous mornings, which she believed was due to his enjoyment of their current sleeping arrangements. Internally rolling her eyes, she slowly unwrapped herself from his death-grip of a snuggle and found her way to her feet.

A dull, pulsating headache found itself in her head, causing her to wince in pain every few seconds. A Warlock never did appreciate an interuption in focused thought. She silently grabbed her boots and dirtied garments and began to put them back on. It wasn't pleasent, but she hadn't anything else to wear. Vanguard policy dictated that a Guardian must be clothed when in public, and she wasn't one to disregard protocol. It occured to her that there was no longer a proper Vanguard, and her actions felt slower and heavier. She couldn't escape thinking about what had happened for a single morning.

Fully garbed, she had to wait for Swift to finally roll out of bed before she could retrieve her robes and place them on once more. After placing her armor atop them, she was ready. Up The Ante by her side, she was good to go. A glance in Swift's direction told her he was near being done, so she chose to hop down from the loft to go see Hawthorne about their job.

* * *

It wasn't an easy negotiation, trying to get weapons and ammo from Hawthorne for this mission, but they had managed to get some field forged weapons from her. A shotgun and a scout rifle, to be exact. Day had longed for something as strong as the shotgun, and Swift had been dying to replace the MIDA he lost during the fight for the Tower. While they were by no means great weapons, not even good weapons, they performed well enough.

Day was checking the breach of her shotgun as she received a ping from Swift.

"From what I can see, about a dozen Vandals, lotta Dregs. Two Captains. We've got enough cover, but it'll be a long, dangerous fight."

She nodded, not wanting to say much. It wasn't ideal to fight with homemade weapons, but feeling her Ghost's shell against her hip just reminded her how much more dangerous the world was.

"Take your shot whenever you're ready." Was all she replied with.

A precise click from his scout rifle, the puff of ether from a Vandal, and the skirmish began. The Fallen were dug pretty deep into this facility, and there wasn't much of a chance of flushing them out. They had to push in, which would be quite a pain. Swift and Day managed to get precision headshots on targets here and there, but the real threats, the Captains, had stuck in the back to avoid being removed from the fight.

"Grenade out!" Swift called, lobbing a fragmentation grenade Hawthorne had given him. It was by no means as precise or as elegant as a Guardian's light grenade, but it killed and injured far more than most would. The Dregs were unsure how to deal with the sudden insertion of shrapnel into their torsos, and found that lying in a puddle of blood worked the best. The Captains were finally too outraged to sit back any longer and rushed out from hiding, their long shockblades at the ready.

Swift fired a shot into the midsection of the lead Captain, dropping his shields, while Day stood up and fired a shotgun shell directly into the Captain's helmet, shattering it into a million pieces and a wisp of ether. The second Captain used his brother's death as a distraction to leap onto Swift, pinning the Guardian's arms down with his inner pair and stabbing at him with the other pair. Day was quick enough on the draw to hit the Captain in the neck, blowing through his shielding and killing him, although the blades were still in motion. Swift dodged one aimed for his head, but earned himself a skewered left bicep.

Swift's scream of pain reverbated through the battlefield, causing Day's eyes to widen in fear as her comrade was no longer in the fight. Gathering her wit, she stood up straight and fired her handcannon into the mass of Dregs that had formed, thinning the crowd and keeping them back as she moved over to Swift. He had already moved the Captain away from him, leaving just the blade stuck in his arm.

"Don't you dare rip that thing out you idiot. Just hold it still."

Swift simply nodded and dropped his head back into the dirt, no longer wanting to deal with the sword stuck in him. Day took his knife from his belt and cut through the scavenged metal blade, removing most of the length of the blade, leaving only what was lodged in his arm. It would have to do until they got back.

Standing back up, she was greeted by a pair of Vandal arms attempting to wrench her helmet off and get a clean kill. The Vandal was interrupted by his brain matter escaping through his chin as Day fired her pistol straight into his dome, letting him fall to the ground as she cleaned up the other Fallen in the area. The remainder of the force had tried to flee during her field-medic work, and she had not been feeling merciful. Raisng Swift's scout, she fired into the spines of those who had managed to cover some distance, disabling and finishing them off.

Quickly turning back to Swift, she helped him to his feet and started them off in the direction of where they had been dropped off. It wasn't a long distance, but it felt like ages with Swift bleeding half of himself out down his arm, onto the ground below them.

Their transport was on the way, she could see the fragile surface ship slowly skidding through the sky into view. All they had to do was get to the evac point. For a moment, it seemed as though they were out of the wilderness. Then Swift passed out, slumping against Day as his body went limp.

Frantically she tried to slap his helmet to wake him, and when that failed, she mustered her strength and carried his full weight herself, dragging him behind her as they inched their way to the now landed craft. A Farm refugee jumped out of the craft and assisted Day in dragging the downed Guardian back into the ship. Aboard the ship were several armed refugees, none of which looked particularly pleased by her presence, but from the look in their eyes when they saw Swift out cold, it seemed as though they were ready to celebrate. It took all she had within her to not lash out at them.

The man that had assisted her began mulling through the onboard medical kit, seeing if there was anything that could assist in this situation. It was a fruitless endeavour, but she appreciated the sentiment.

Her eyes were glued to Swift, no, Tom. Swift was his persona. Under the layers of Guardian armor and ego, was an actual person, a person who was scared to die his last time. She prayed that he would make the ride back.


End file.
